16th December 1980: ‘Ding-dong!’, the door-bell rang. I was in my bedroom preparing for my Bachelors final exam. ‘It must be someone from Citi Bank claiming to confiscate our home as the loan taken by Abba has still not been paid’ I thought to myself’.

“Rashida switch off the lights and pretend as if no one is at home.” I whispered to my younger sister.

Ever since I remember, we have been living in the same two bedroom apartment in Nazimabad. Abba was an accounts officer in a small government organization and amma used to teach Quran to kids in the neighbourhood. In this way, my parents earned monthly income just sufficient to meet our home expenses and to get me and Rashida a good education. Four years ago, Abba took a loan in order to pay the fees of my four-years university education. However, he did not get the salary raise which he was expecting due to organisation’s politics and thus has been unable to pay back the loan.

“Bhai, for how long do we have to lie and make excuses to the bank. Why can’t khala pay the loan for us?, Rashida asked me. Rashida was right but she was only in grade 5 and didn’t know anything. Khala was the principal in a renowned school and used to live in Defence. But she has stopped helping amma since the time amma fell in love with abba. She used to call amma often, not to generously help us but to know about our financial condition. All my maternal relatives were against this marriage as according to them abba was not of their status. Since the marriage, amma’s relatives broke the link with her including khala. Rashida would know this all when she grows up so for now I diverted her mind into cartoons.

It seemed that the men on door had gone as there were no more bells and door knocks to be heard. I timidly stood up and switched on the lights. When I went near the door, to my surprise, I saw an envelope which was slid from the door. It read ‘Jarir Sons’. What is this…? I thought to myself. I slowly opened the envelope and found a letter with ‘Congratulations’ written with a large and bold font. ‘You have been shortlisted for the position of an Assistant manager for the Electrical department in Jarir Sons. Interview is to be held tomorrow in Pearl Continental at 8:30 a.m.’ Oh my God!! I was flabbergasted as I just applied for this position knowing that I wouldn’t be selected four months ago and have completely forgotten about it. Amma Abba both have remained tensed the whole year due to the payment of loan but this news made them extremely happy.

Next day I went for the interview and within two weeks I got a positive reply. I had been selected for Kuwait branch of Jarir Sons for this position out of 250 applicants. “Things are to change for good, my son” exclaimed abba. And they surely were. God helped us in time when we needed it the most.

20th May 1981: I completed my Bachelors in Electrical engineering and went to Kuwait the next week to start my job. During last year, we got the final notice from Citi bank to leave the home as the loan wasn’t paid yet. Hence we rented a small cottage nearby.

My job career was about to start. I was scared in the beginning but I knew I had to work hard and get my parents not only the home back but also to get them respect from my amma’s relatives. Initially it was hard for me to adjust in an unknown Arab speaking country but I worked with full determination. I used to get back home at 6 pm and used to teach Physics and Mathematics tuition to earn extra income.

I got promotion after six months of work and immediately paid the Citi Bank loan. Now half of my aim of coming here was accomplished as we got our home back.

I got a call from amma late at night telling me that khala called her and was stunned to hear that Hassan has got a job-that too in Kuwait and have paid the loan. “Amma, one day I will get you your respect back and tell your relatives that marrying Abba was not a wrong decision. It is not the status or the wealth that matters but love.” I told her after which she got emotional and prayed for my success.

I worked in Kuwait for 10 years in which I saved a decent proportion of my income and came back to Pakistan because of Kuwait-Iraq war otherwise my job was stable and I was satisfied. During this period of time, we shifted from Nazimabad to Defence. Rashida got admission in a good college and I asked Abba to take retirement as I would handle all the household expenses. Moreover, as amma’s relatives came to know about our status upgrade who once humiliated abba of his low status, called her and asked to forgive them. Amma has forgiven everyone and Khala now visits our home quite often.

Jan 1991: I have settled back in Pakistan and have got a job in Abott. Both my objectives of going to Kuwait have been fulfilled. Time definitely changes everything. But from the experience of my parents I have realized that it is the wealth that the world is running for. Once you gain wealth everyone will become your friend and if not, then people will humiliate you just like in amma’s case.

Here I am on the hospital bed recalling my entire life. I can hear the cries of my parents and my nearest friends but I cannot move or tell them how sorry I was for all the mistakes I made and the people I ever hurt. I belonged to a Muslim family. My grandparents were very religious and always used to advice me to pray five times a day and to be a good Muslim however I took things for granted and never took their advices seriously. My ambition had always been to become a successful business woman with fame, name and money. I considered my grandparents to be old fashioned and since my childhood I dreamt of achieving success. Nevertheless I had been thankful to God for blessing me with good memory and capacity to learn. It was in grade 6 when I came first in class and it was that day I promised myself to work hard in order to get into a good university as I knew my parents weren’t wealthy enough to afford my university fees. With each passing years I could see myself achieving more awards and going away from God. I did not want to be like my parents who thanked God as they were satisfied with their mediocre lifestyle. With time I left my old sincere friends and befriended the girls from popular group in order to gain fame. I remember playing cards with them at the time of Maghreb instead of praying namaz, listening music and dancing late at nights because if I left the game and went for namaz I would be considered odd one and I did not want to be that. My mother always used to tell me that this world is temporary…it is nothing but like our exam. The more we indulge in materialism the more we will go away from God. Life is beautiful if we get ourselves close to God. However I was young, proud and I thought I had plenty of time to Taw bah and everything will get fine in the end. In grade 10, I even took off my hijab because I wanted to be like majority of other girls. I knew I was doing wrong but my evil side forced me to do it. To my surprise I gained even more attention as I looked more beautiful; and made a lot of affluent friends. As I could see my dream of becoming successful come closer I decided never to wear my hijab. Despite the fact that I was good at studies, famous in college and used to win several awards but I had lost my identity of being a good Muslim. Even though I was still a Muslim by name but I did not practice any of the religious activities as I had no time for it. On a quick note, I got into Harvard Business School with hundred percent scholarship and after graduating I got a good job. Where ever I used to go people used to praise me of how multi talented I was except for my parents. My parents were worried about my akhira (the life after death) because even though I might be a good business woman but I was not a good Muslim. I got so busy with my career and success that I had no time for my parents’ advices. Furthermore, over the period of time I became arrogant because I had achieve everything I wanted. It was the last day before I got hospitalized that I became angry at my mom for continuously telling me to do Taw bah rather than praising me on my success. I left the home with anger and I was driving at 150miles/hr to the meeting when my car got hit with the truck .The last thing I remember was my head hitting the stirring and me realizing that my life is over with in the blink of an eye.

Now I am in coma and I heard the doctors saying that my survival chances are 0.5%. My mother is standing near me reciting Surah Yaseen and asking Allah to forgive me. This is time I realized that life is just a temporary journey where we have been sent to become good people. Even though there is Satan encouraging us to do things which are sinful but we should have a strong nafs to control ourselves. I wished I had balanced the world with Deen, prayed Allah and not listened music. I wished I had not taken my hijab off because the people in this world will forget me some time after my death but the punishment I will receive in Hell will be forever. I was blessed to have been born in a religious family but I did not listen them. All the worldly glitter attracted me to commit sins. I remember my grandmother had a smile on her face while she was dying but I am scared…so scared of death. I don’t know what is going to happen next. I wish I had another chance to live where I could become a better person and tell other Muslims of not doing the mistakes that I had performed.

To all my western impressed Muslim friends

Written by: Mehak Ali

P.S. Forgive me for anything I have written wrong.Comments are always welcomed.

My fellow friends, today I am going to share with you people a bitter truth. I have been watching the news channels since my childhood and the word that is repeatedly heard is ‘Terrorism’. The word ‘terrorism’ has a negative connotation as it is associated with innocent killing, bloodbath, millions of deaths and loud cries for the lost ones. It creates an atmosphere of sadness and melancholy. Worse still, if a terrorist activity is performed in a third world country like Pakistan then the victims are not even condoled and compensated and their demands are suppressed. If we talk about Karachi alone, more than thousands of terrorist activities have occurred in the last couple of decades. More than 1 million people have lost their lives, a lot of women have become widows and many more have lost their children. Furthermore, most of the people killed or injured were common civilians. The question that these common citizens are compelled to ask is that ‘why have they been victimized?’ I have seen plenty of videos showing the mothers crying for the killing of their family members without them being involved in any sort of political activity. They are totally broken and it could be felt from their voice. Additionally, in an ever busy city of Karachi I presume that about 80% of the civilians have witnessed or become the victim of petty crimes like stealing and robbery. Many of them have asked the government to compensate them for their loss and to improve the law and order of the city but most of the times their voices have been unheard or ignored. Students have raised the issue of terrorism in Pakistan on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter but rarely any action has been taken to reduce these crimes and terrorist activities. I would like to end this article by saying that how many more people have to lose their life’s, how many mothers have to see the death of their sons in front of their eyes, how much more bloodshed Karachi has to experience. It is important for government to wake up and work towards betterment or our country will experience a massive brain drain. dream of seeing peace again in my country, harmony among the citizens and relationship based on trust and unity rather hatred among the different sectarian groups. (Amen)

Whoa!!! Its been an year…I cant believe it. It seems just yesterday when my parents came with me to Lahore and bade me goodbye after settling me in the hostel. My first thought about LUMS was that it is just the university I have always imagined. I liked the greenery of the campus as it is very rare for us to find some in Saudi Arabia where I have lived for almost 6 years. In the first week I felt lonely in the campus as most of the groups of students came from the same school and were already friends. Hence my o-week experience was a little strange. However i made a couple of friends in the hostel’s common room and these buddies turned out to be my closest friends in the years time. Moreover I got to experience the diversity at LUMS. There were students from different cities of Pakistan for example I know people from Sargodha, okara, Hyderabad and Kashmir. It was great to know about their culture and tradition. Now coming towards the main point the studies…..I personally found the studies to be hard as firstly we have relative grading and most of the students in my section had already studied the commerce subjects like accounting and economics in their A-levels. I knew nothing about accounting and hence I found it hard. Anyhow with my consistency and dedication I was able to get 3.71 GPA in my first semester.I think the GPA is fine especially for student who didn’t have the commerce background. We had projects and presentations in almost every course so it inculcated the presentation skills in us. Despite the studies being hard we got to learn a lot of new things. Overall my first year experience of university life was great and is filled with a lot of good memories.

I would like to give credit to all the sites from which I have collected the information.

Drones are the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) which operate autonomously by a pre-programmed mission(Freakyworld).The earliest recorded use of UAV for war fighting occurred on August 22,1849,when Austrians attacked Venice with unmanned balloons loaded with explosives(The Nation).Although drones have only recently been the subject of significant public debate, they are not new as their use can be traced back to World War I(Living under drones).As technology progressed, the drones were modified and were made smarter. Smaller drones were developed which could fly into unsafe areas like war zones and were able to drop bombs in a military strike (pacans).The question arises that, ‘what caused U.S to start the drone attacks in various countries?’It was after the September 11, 2001 attack on World Trade center when the Bush administration initiated drone strikes against suspected members of Al-Qaeda and the other armed groups. The CIA carried out its first targeted drone killing in 2002 in Afghanistan in an effort to kill Osama Bin Laden.Additionally, after the U.S invasion of Afghanistan, a number of Taliban fighters fled across the border and came into Pakistan in the regions of FATA and North Waziristan. This in turn caused U.S to start drone attacks in Pakistan in 2004 in order to target the extremist group members which have continued till date.Morever, the strikes have accelerated under Obama administration as he considers drone as an effective and precise technology to combat militant groups(Living under the Drones).Drone strikes have now become a key part of the US government to combat terrorism as it enables US to kill afar without any risk to the US citizens(Stanford, NYU Living under drones).It has been recorded by Bureao of Investigative journalism that there were 52 drone strikes under Bush administration whereas there have been 318 strikes under Obama administration until now.(TBIJ)

Furthermore, according to the research done by Stanford Law School, “the number of high level targets killed as a percentage of total casualties is extremely low-estimated at just two percent” (LivingUnderDrones) which shows the ineffectiveness of these drones. This compels one to ask that, ‘can the continuation of U.S drone attacks in Pakistan be justified?’ Despite the fact that Obama officials have announced to continue the drone strikes (Aljazeera), U.S government should be forced to dismiss this practice as the United Nations secretary general-Ban Ki Moon condemned them and stated that, “The use of armed drones, like any other weapon should be subject to long-standing rules of international law, including international humanitarian law”(Moon,voanews.com).In addition, there have been hundreds of anti-drone protests all over Pakistan which shows that the civilians are unhappy by the U.S drone strikes and thus should be ceased due to their adverse effects. Although the supporters of U.S drone strikes argue that they help in killing the extremist group members, however; they cannot be justified because they destabilize Pakistan’s economy, result in massive civilian casualty and the chemicals from missiles cause fatal diseases to the population.

Advocates of drone strikes believe that they kill the extremist group members and thus help in eradicating terrorism from Pakistan’s soil. According to Sam Bollier, “11% of Pakistani’s have a favorable view about the US drones” (Bollier, Aljazeera).Moreover, Anoop Sarbahi, a political scientist at Stanford university stated that, “Drones disrupt and degrade the terrorist organizations and reduces their ability to conduct attacks” (Sarbahi, Aljazeera).The supporters of drone attacks believe that doing so eliminates the evil from its root and helps in bringing peace in the country. According to data compiled by the New America Foundation, since Obama has been in the White House, U.S. drones have killed an estimated 3,300 al Qaeda, Taliban, and other jihadist operatives in Pakistan and Yemen (Brookings). In addition, President Obama in his speech on drone policy stated that, “Drones are a cure of terrorism”(Obama, nytimes).Alas, the believe that drone attacks on Al Qaeda members and other groups result in declining terrorist activities is a false presumption. Drones on the extremist groups aggravate them and in fact causes their group to strengthen rather than disintegrate. In the entire decade of drone strikes, Pakistan has experienced an increase in terrorist rate. In 2006, there were three drone strikes and nine suicide bombing incidents in Pakistan. Whereas in 2007, the number of drones increased to five causing fifty seven suicide attacks (Tribune).Hence, this shows the relationship that the increase in drone attacks result in a rise in terrorism which heightens the risk for Pakistan.

Moreover, the drone strikes in the tribal areas of FATA and Waziristan have caused Taliban to leave that area and enter into other parts of Pakistan. According to Michael Rubin, “Drone strikes have driven many of the militant leaders out of the mountains, and into the dense urban jungles of the southern Punjab and Karachi,” (Rubin, Aljazeera).This shows that drones have been ineffective in targeting the right person and eliminating terrorism. The death of one militant causes the extremist group to hire more and to take revenge. Consequently, they plant more bombs with the immediate victim being Pakistani community and it also ruptures the country’s economic development. This can be proven from the fact that the killing of Hakimullah Mehsud on November 1,2013 have caused Pakistani Taliban to vow to take an “unprecedented” revenge(ndtv) which means that targeting militants causes the remaining group members to retaliate and hence results in massive destruction. Pakistani ambassador, Masood Khan stated that, “Drones are a chilling reminder that reprisal strikes by terrorists are around the corner”(Khan, Dawn) .According to Imran Khan, the chairman of PTI, it is now time to hold peace talks with talibans rather than drone strikes in a hope of reducing the terrorist activities(Tribune).Therefore the notion that drones result in decrease in terrorism by killing Taliban and Al-Qaeda members is not true. Instead, every drone attack worsens the situation by causing the militants to result in more disaster in Pakistan and hence the continuation of drone strikes cannot be justified.

In addition, drone strikes destabilize Pakistan’s economy. The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif said that, “Drones are a violation to the country’s territorial integrity and they destabilize the whole economy” (Sharif, Dawn).These drone strikes have ruined the tribal regions and Waziristan completely. Moreover there has been a loss of massive property and the repeated attacks on houses, mosques, funerals and madrassa’s have made the entire place barren. For instance in June 2012, three houses were destroyed and 23 vehicles were badly damaged (TheNews). Professor Akbar Ahmed, the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University and former Pakistan Ambassador to the United Kingdom stated that, “this has caused a large number of local populations to flee their homes and these destitute communities are now scattered in the bigger cities. However it is difficult for them to survive due to limited financial resources” (Ahmed, The cost of our drone war). Also, these tribal men are unable to find jobs which affect the economy of Pakistan in an adverse manner. As a result, the victims suffer from extreme economic hardships. The attacks on madrassas and schools have made the children scared of going to schools which has destroyed the education system in these areas.Faheem Qureshi, a resident of North Waziristan stated in an interview that, “Drones have affected our education adversely, of course… we cannot learn things because we are always in fear of the drones hovering over us, and it really scares the small kids who go to school” (Qureshi, Living under drones). Most often the staff and the teachers also do not come to schools because of the constant threat of drone attack which has completely distorted the education system in the tribal zones. Additionally, Pakistan’s economic outlook has taken stagnation and because of the insecurity and instability there has been a decline in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Pakistan (Passive voices). Moreover, the economy of Pakistan has further been destabilized due to the drone strikes in settled areas of Khyber Paktunkhwa. According to Professor Akbar Ahmed, “These attacks have broken the fragile link between the Pakhtun tribes and Pakistan’s central government, violated their tribal code of honor and destabilized their hierarchy”(Ahmed, The cost of our drone war).There was a drone strike in Bannu district of KPK a few years ago and recently there was an attack in Hangu near a Degree college which flared the residents (Nation).These attacks have caused Paktuns to go against the government as they have lost their faith in the state. Drones have overall weakened the economy and disintegrated the unity between the communities. This is the reason that PTI chairmen, Imran Khan held a rally and protested againt drone attacks. Thus, the continuous drone attacks have destabilized the government and the economy which is one of the reasons why Imran Khan and Nawaz Sharif are pressuring US to cease the attacks by blocking the NATO supply from reaching the American soldiers in Afghanistan (World. time).

Furthermore, drone strikes result in a high civilian casualty which makes the continued use of them unjustified. From the data collected by Bureau of Investigative Journalism, “From June 2004 through mid September 2012, approximately 500 civilians have been killed of which 176 were children (Stanford NYU Living under drones). Also there are several unreported strikes which would have killed even greater number of civilians (Stanford NYU Living under drones).This shows that drones have been counterproductive in killing the target and instead result in the killing of bystanders, many of whom have no idea about America and the Al-Qaeda. On 30th October, 2006 there was an attack on madrassa in Waziristan which took the lives of 69 innocent children who were under the age of 17(Tribune).There was also a drone strike in June 2006 near Datta Khel which killed the young miners and woodcutters (Stanford NYU Living under drones).Moreover, Momina Bibi who was the grandmother of Nabila died in 2012 due to the explosion from drone while she was out of the home picking okra and her body was blown into pieces. A second strike minutes later injured family members tending her (Telegraph).The killing of any ones child or a family member is unjustified and is prohibited by the international humanitarian law. Amnesty international announced that the drone attacks result in unlawful killings that contribute in extra judicial executions and war crimes(daily mail).Therefore drones are a striking failure of technology as they are inaccurate in targeting the right person and result in massive collateral damage (the guardian).

Additionally, the killing of hundreds of civilians in Pakistan by a remote control cannot be justified while in US the government morns for even the death of a single US citizen. For example: President Obama condemned the Boston bombing which occurred on April 15, 2013 killing three US citizens (BBC).Obama stated in his speech that, “The American people will say a prayer for Boston tonight and Michelle and I send our deepest thoughts and prayers to the families of the victims in the wake of this senseless loss”( Obama, Whitehouse.gov).The question put forward is that, ‘why should the world remain silent for the death of the civilians in drone attack?’ Drones are unjustified because it takes the lives of many civilians, most of whose death is not even recorded and hence the world should not remain silent. Benjamin, the leading anti-war activist reported an incident that, “In one village, the Americans thought a wedding party was a Taliban gathering. One minute, forty-three relatives were joyously celebrating and the next minute, their appendages were hanging off the limbs of trees” (Drone Warfare, 3).This once again proves the ineffectiveness of drones and the massive loss of innocent lives. The report stated that, “To accept such a policy would be to endorse state practices that fundamentally undermine crucial human rights protections that have been painstakingly developed over more than a century of international law-making,” (The guardian).Also, Pakistan’s UN ambassador Masood Khan stated that, “The killing of unarmed ,innocent civilians is a clear breach of international law” (Khan, nation).Hence, the continuation of US drone attacks is against humanity and cannot be justified as civilians are indiscriminately killed under heavy drone assaults (tv.global research).

Another reason for which drone attacks cannot be justified is that the chemicals from missile of drone strikes cause fatal diseases and psychological trauma to the remaining population. Pakistani physicians have revealed that the deadly chemical materials used in the missiles have caused the survivors to suffer from complicated skin, eye and respiratory diseases(Press TV).The journalist, Safdar Dawar told that, “Since these drone strikes have been carried out, peculiar disease cases have been witnessed, and the press club have been frequently visited by those complainants, who have developed skin and bronchial diseases in the aftermath of drone airstrikes”(Dawar, Press TV).In addition, the radiation from these chemical explosion cause fatal diseases. An expert from Waziristan told that his daughter died of blood cancer soon after she had developed a skin disease, which occurred due to the poisonous effect of chemical substances used in the non-UN-sanctioned drone strikes (Press TV).Missiles fired from drones release powerful waves which are capable of crushing the internal organs. The people who survive the drone strikes suffer from limb amputation and disfiguring burns and shrapnel wounds.A survivor of drone attack who lost her legs in the explosion told Benjamin (an anti war activist) in an interview that it is better to die because surviving as a crippled widow with no income and no family was too much to bear (Drone Warfare page 3).

Also, the frequent drone strikes in Waziristan have traumatized the civilians. The survey done by Stanford law school and NYU found out from the mental health professionals in Pakistan that there have been several cases of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder among their patients in Waziristan due to the constant presence of drones (Stanford NYU Living under drones).Drones fly at a visible height and their continuous presence in the sky frightens the people. Ismail Hussaini, a resident of Waziristan told the interviewer that, “Before this we were all very happy. We lived a very good life. But after these drones attacks a lot of people are victims and have developed mental illnesses”(Hussaini, Living under drones).Dawood Ishaq, another resident stated that “people are scared of coming out of their house as they can hear the circling of drone in the sky. People know that they can be the next target” (Ishaq, Living under drones).There is a constant buzzing in the sky which cause people to avoid going out.In addition, drones have left deep scars on the population (Amnesty International). Dr Peter Schaapveld, a clinical and forensic psychologist reported that drone strikes are having an adverse psychological impact on children especially. The children are always traumatized, suffer from a form of phychological torture and are unable to form relationship or play with other children (Schaapveld, Chanel4).In addition, the witnessing of drone strikes and the destruction taking place will have a devastating impact on the personality development of children. Therefore drones affect the lives of the survivors in a detrimental manner. The lethal chemicals result in deadly diseases and witnessing such incident develop emotional trauma and anxiety among the victims which makes it difficult for them to lead a normal life. Hence, drones cannot be justified under any circumstances as they are affecting the lives of the future generations in a negative way.

Despite the fact that drone strikes kill the Al-Qaeda leaders and Taliban members, however drones have proven counterproductive as they aggravate the extremists to carry out more terrorist activities. Moreover, drone strikes destabilizes Pakistan’s economy, cause enormous civilian casualty and the chemicals from missile cause fatal diseases. Therefore the continuation of U.S drone strikes in Pakistan cannot be justified because it has more disadvantages. In conclusion, Pakistan’s government should pressurize U.S to cease the drone strikes which will be for the betterment of the entire Pakistan’s economy as Naeema Kishwar Khan,a member of JUI urged to stop the drone attacks as they are the violation of the UN Charter, humanitarian norms and International laws(the news).

So it was the first time I was travelling alone and coming from Lahore to Dammam after the end of semester.I was so excited to meet my parents and siblings that I did all my packing two days before going. Moreover I reached airport 3 hours before the flight timings.However the weather was foggy and I had a feeling hat something wrong will happen and it did. t 7 pm there was an announcement that come to gate no.24 where we were informed that due to the foggy weather, he plane was unable to land and instead it has now gone to Karachi so kindly either go home or wait if you want to get a hotel.I felt so sad as it meant to live one more day without my mom :( Anyhow because the hostel was entirely empty as everyone has already left for their homes so I had no other option but to take hotel. Worse still there were very few ladies and the rest were men.Also most of the ladies did not even knew Urdu properly but thankgod I met two girls in the car on our way to the airport which provided me with the confidence.Finally we arrived in the ‘Crown Plaza Hotel’ which was a lot better than I expected.Never the less the dinner was not free and then I bought a burger of 45o rupees which did not taste so good.I was so sleepy but the two girls and I talked till the morning and then they took us to the airport at 8 am.Just imagine that we had to sit in the airport for almost 8 hours.I felt that today even we wont be able to go and finally the staff announced at 4;30 in the afternoon that your flight is ready to depart. This announcement gave me immense joy as finally I would be able to go back home for 3 weeks.It was a 5 hours long flight almost which ended my journey and I came to Saudia Arabia.I really wish that there is no such problem or fog when I go back to Lahore.